My son-in-law makes a delicious lasagna with spinach. He layers raw baby spinach among the usual layers. It's so tender the baking cooks it.

I have always added spinach to the sauce, rather than the ricotta.

I‘ve done both, but usually defrost frozen spinach and add it to the ricotta mixture. Mmm, now I’m craving that. :)

(This mixture is great for stuffed shells, too.)

Defrost frozen chopped spinach, put it in cheese cloth and squeeze very VERY dry. Mix with some of the ricotta, some mozzerella and some parmesan....and layer it on...yum!
Or just add a layer of baby spinach on top of one noodle layer!

I like to mix spinach with white lasagna layers ( ricotta-eggs-parmesan or bechamel) and keep the tomato sauce separate. If you use frozen spinach squeeze it very dry after defrosting.

I use fresh spinach, added to the sauce.

For a layer of lasagne I defrost spinach and squeeze it dry, then mix with ricotta, a beaten egg, some parm, and some pepper. The egg keeps the filling stable, not wobbly.

Thanks all. I have 10 oz of frozen spinach, thawed. I will wring it dry - thanks for reminding me to do that. Then I’ll mix it with the ricotta layer which is 30 oz of ricotta, 16 oz shredded mozzarella, 4 oz shredded Parmesan, and 2 eggs.

Someone here taught me to soak my lasagna noodles for a few minutes in a dish of warm water. Whoever you are, bless you. That one tip has made lasagna making so much easier!!

Added to ricotta / egg / grated cheese mixture.

Doesn't adding it to the cheese mix give you lime green cheese? Maybe because I use the Cuisinart to mix it all?

I just layer it, but always use fresh. I'd do the same with frozen, I think.

I add fresh spinach to the ricotta mixture, or else I put it in the pasta dough. It does not make the cheese green, as I leave the leaves whole, but I do remove the stems so that I can chop them up. If it goes into the noodles, then those do turn green, and I make that dough in the food processor. Normally, I make pasta dough by hand, however. It's extremely easy, and I have found no need to use the FP for that, unless it has herbs in it.

Lately, I've been making lasagna in my Corningware pan, and so I make the noodles the same size and shape of the pan. They are very easy to roll out with a rolling pin. It's much easier to assemble when one lasagna noodle exactly fits the pan. I use the lid of the pan for measuring when I am rolling out the dough.

I do not soak my noodles in warm water, but I do mist them with water as the go into the pan.

I use fresh in the ricotta. I’ve never had frozen spinach that wasn’t awful.

bbstx, I have added spinach it to my lasagna since I started making it in 1977. I remember because I found the recipe while waiting to be fitted for my wedding gown. It goes with the ricotta layer...as follows. I use frozen spinach but raw is fine, too. A handy tip is to use a potato ricer to squeeze the liquid from the thawed spinach. Works really well. :-)

Filling:
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup butter
1 pint ricotta cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch of nutmeg

Fry the mushrooms in butter; season with salt and pepper. Mix mushrooms and their juices with the ricotta. Blend in spinach, Parmesan and nutmeg. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper, if needed. Mix in eggs. It gets layered with the usual suspects...meat sauce, lasagna noodles, Mozzarella and Parmesan.

It’s in the oven! Looks good, too. In about 50 minutes, we’ll know the outcome. I’m sure it will be great.

Bbstx, I think that was me. :) I learned it on some TV show.

If you’re using fresh spinach, you also need to wilt, chop and squeeze it, although very baby might not have so much extra water. Chopping helps release all the unwanted water, and also interrupts the go-thisaway-ness. Spinach is very directional, and unpleasant in lasagna if it's going a different way than your fork!

Thanks, plllog!

I rarely buy fresh spinach, especially out of season in our area. By the time it is picked, packed and shipped, it is very tired when it gets to us. Spinach that is flash frozen mere hours from the field is better, IMHO.

Lately I have been putting a layer of some fresh veggie in the middle of the lasagna. Baby spinach goes right in as a layer; other veggies get trimmed or cut so they also make a thin middle layer. Seems to work fine for me.

Dinner was a hit! Thanks all for your guidance and suggestions.

Glad it was good. I’m with Bunny on frozen spinach!!

I have done pretty much all of the above. I often make what we call lumpy lasagna as well. Broccoli and or cauliflower and or spinach and or mushrooms get sliced up and then layered with the zucchini squash or whole wheat noodles. I use fresh spinach usually but squeeze the moisture out of frozen spinach when I use it and put it in the sauce.

:/ I didn't know spinach was seasonal. It's always available here.

Be careful, heard there was a spinach recall.

I like frozen corn, peas, and green beans, but not spinach. I also was unaware that spinach had a season. If it does, I would guess that it is a winter crop. I mostly sauté spinach with mushrooms and onions, either as a side dish or for omelets, and I think it would be difficult to cook frozen spinach that way. Sometimes I stuff portobello with a mixture of spinach, Fontina cheese, and egg, and I think frozen spinach would work for that, but it would have to have all of the moisture removed.

I think I prefer dried spinach to frozen spinach, as it is easier to control the moisture. I also like dried cabbage.

I'm a gardener. Spinach bolts with the combination of longer day length and warmer weather.

I thought the point was to eliminate the pasta. That is how I add spinach. Fresh in layers where one would normally layer pasta.

What is it about lasagna that is so good? Nothing quite like it even though other casserole type recipes have similar ingredients. I miss it. For years I have made a harvest lasagna in the early fall using garden excess produce. Just off my game this year with so much going on.

Spinach is one crop that does not do well in my climate. Along with cilantro, bok choy. Some salads. I've tried many varieties. A fall crop did well for a while but critters wiped most of it out. Collards, kales did ok but came to a halt at about 6 inches. Chard and beet greens are never a problem.

arcy, seems some just add a spinach layer to their basic lasagna recipe and some add lots of veg layers in place of a noodle layer or two. My spinach layer is separate from my wild mushroom ragu layer. Lots of veg on the bottom. Some mix the spinach in ricotta, food processor, some just layer it fresh. (I don't mix, just chop, wilt, then layer). Children might like it hidden. 😜

Frozen spinach quality is all over the place depending on brand. One I purchased at my parents local grocery was awful. A block of ice and tasted/looked like chopped up broccoli stems. A brand I buy in Canada is in compact square cubes twice the volume of standard ice cube trays. Very tender. An organic bag I buy here in NY is also very good. Always have a big bag or two in the freezer. (not this year)Their petit peas are also excellent.

Not serving a crowd this holiday season, or a giant lasagna, but I have a 4lb bag of organic baby spinach in my cart from the wholesaler that I'll need to quickly blanch, ice, then freeze portions. I'll just make small individual lasagnas at least once.

Like Lars we prefer fresh spinach in an omelette. Frittata, lasagna, we are fine with the convenience of quality frozen. Unless I have access to fresh. 4 pounds is a lot but the price is right and we will use it all winter. The big Costco bags are 2.5 pounds.

I always wilt/saute the spinach separately to remove the excess liquid. It can add excess moisture to a lasagna. I mix in the chopped spinach with ricotta -- but perhaps unusually I've taken lately to adding pesto to the mixture. Yes, it is green but adds a burst of flavor. Samrin Nosrat's online "Big Lasagne" communal bake from earlier in the confinement uses fresh basil leaves.

On the family farm, spinach was a spring and fall crop in our weather zone. In other areas further south, it is a winter crop.

Jasdip, if you are asking about mine, it wasn’t picture-worthy, probably best eaten by very dim candlelight.

LOL, but you said it was delicious which is all that matters.